Melinda Gates Is Now A Billionaire, After A Stock Transfer From Her Ex Husband

Earlier this week, Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates announced their divorce. On that same day, Melinda Gates became a billionaire.

Cascade Investment, Bill Gate’s investment vehicle, transferred nearly $2.4 billion in securities to Melinda Gates on Monday. The next day his net worth dropped slightly, from $130.4 billion to $128.1 billion, according to Forbes.

However, Bill Gates maintained his status as the fourth richest person in the world. He falls behind Jeff Bezos ($177 billion), Elon Musk ($157 billion) and Bernard Arnault and family ($150 billion).

Melinda Gates received 2.94 million shares of AutoNation and 14.1 million shares of Canadian National Railway Co., according to Forbes. AutoNation is worth $309 million and Canadian National Railway Co. is worth an estimated $1.5 billion.

Melinda Gates also received 25.8 million shares of Mexico-based Coca-Cola Femsa — worth $120 million — and 155.4 million shares of Mexican broadcaster Grupo Televisa SA — worth $386 million.

Up until 2000, Bill was Microsoft’s CEO, and he later moved out of a daily role with the company in 2008. Until 2014, he served as chairman of the board and announced just last year he was stepping down to focus on philanthropy.

In 2000, the couple founded The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a nonprofit organization that has spent more than $53 billion since its formation to target poverty and inequity worldwide, according to the foundation’s website.

Melinda Gates, who was a product manager at Microsoft, met Bill Gates at a business dinner in New York City. They were married in Hawaii in 1994.

The couple’s divorce filings show they asked a judge in Washington state to divide their assets based on the terms of a separation contract, usually issued when spouses are living apart but have not yet divorced, according to Forbes.

The terms of the contract weren’t disclosed.

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